Sutherland Shire is primarily a residential area. Its primary tourist destinations are the beach suburbs of Cronulla, the bushland of Australia's oldest national park the Royal National Park and the first landing point of Captain Cook at Botany Bay in Kurnell.

Many people refer to this area of Sydney as "the Shire". And certainly almost all of the residents of the area do.

It is surrounded by water, with the Ocean to the east, Port Hacking to the South, the Georges River and Botany bay on the North, and the Woronora river on the west. It has numerous opportunities for uncrowded swimming, boating, bushwalking, and exploring the parks, gardens and history of the area.

The Sutherland Shire would be a destination to consider if you were looking to stay in Sydney, but want to avoid the expense, parking hassles, and crowds of the city centre. It offers cheaper accommodation, less crowds, free parking, access to beaches, parks, and bushland, shopping and other amenities and is an 30-40 minute train trip or drive to the attractions at the city centre.

Cityrail [13] runs trains to the district every 15-30 minutes. The journey takes around 30-45 minutes. There are 13 Cityrail stations within the Sutherland Shire district.

The city train stations of Central, Town Hall, Martin Place and Kings Cross offer a direct service. From the other city stations you will need to change at one of these following stations
Redfern platform 12
Central platform 25
Town Hall platform 4

From the north there are three bridges over the Georges River that link to the Sutherland Shire. If you follow the Princes Highway south from the Sydney CBD towards Wollongong, you will enter the Sutherland Shire crossing the river at the Tom Ugly's Bridge. The journey will take around 30 minutes. Alternatively, you could travel along Rocky Point Road and cross Captain Cook bridge to enter the shire through Taren Point.

From the south Wollongong just follow the signs to Sydney via the Sydney freeway, and as soon as you seen the "Welcome to Sydney" sign, you have made it. The journey takes around 30 minutes but can be congested at peak times.

The cycleway from Sydney Olympic Park follows the Cooks River to the edge of Botany Bay through Southern Sydney. It enters the Sutherland Shire over the Captain Cook bridge and continues largely off-road or on quiet roads to Cronulla. It then continues on a wide shoulder on a 80km/hr road to Kurnell. Sydney cycle routes are generally not well marked, and you should do some research on the route and take a map so you don't get lost or end up on a very busy road. Sharkbike [14] is the Sutherland Shire Bicycle User Group.

Cityrail runs trains between Sutherland and Cronulla every 15 minutes, and every 30 minutes to other stations.

Sydney Buses only runs one bus, to Miranda Fair from Rockdale. It services Taren Point on route. Veolia runs the other buses in the district, including services to Kurnell, Grays Point, Gymea Bay, and over the Woronora River to Menai. Expect buses to run about every hour to most places on weekdays, up to 3 hourly on a weekend, and to stop running around 8pm.

Sydney Transport Infoline [16] provides information on all bus and train times to any street address or attraction. It will recommend the quickest method at the time you wish to travel.

E.G. Waterhouse National Camellia Garden, President Avenue, Caringbah (2 minutes drive/20 minutes walk from Caringbah along President Avenue). 9am until 5pm. A large garden area, with many varieties of flowers. Playground, artificial creeks and waterfalls, and a duck pond. Ducks are fat and usually very well fed. Teahouse in the gardens, popular spot.free. edit

Joseph Banks Native Plants Reserve, Garnet Avenue, Kareela (Entrance is hard to find, take Bates Drive from Princes Hwy (signposted to Kareela), left on Alpita to end, Left on Garnet to end, left on Manooka to end), [1]. until 4pm. A large collection of native plants, paved walks, barbecues well stocked with wood, and water views. This place is unknown to most, and is never crowded, except when hosting and occasional wedding. Lots of Australian plant species, and well worth grabbing some sausages, some matches, and heading over for a barbecue.free. edit

Peace Park/Japanese Garden, Eton Street Sutherland. A small, unassuming garden in Sutherland, celebrating the sister city relationship between the Sutherland Shire and Chuo in Tokyo. Cherry blossoms flowering in the spring. Possibly a nice place to visit for any homesick Japanese tourists in the area.free. edit

Como Pleasure Grounds, Cremona Road, Como (Walk down the hill from Como Station, turn left on Cremona Road, and follow until the end). Historically Como was a popular recreation ground for Sydneysiders on the steam train for a day out by the water. Today, it is still a popular park. There is a swimming pool, swimming enclosure on the Georges River, a cafe on the waters edge, playground, barbecues, picnic tables. Its popular with teenagers on weekends to hang out, eat, swim. There is a marina where you can hire small motor boats to explore the Georges River. There is also a Thai restaurant, with a take away kiosk, serving Thai and Australian food.free. edit

Captain Cook's Landing Place, Captain Cook Drive, Kurnell (Over Captain Cook Bridge, and along Captain Cook Drive, or train to Cronulla station and a 987 bus to Kurnell), [2]. Sunrise to Sunset. You can stand on the rock where Captain Cook first stepped ashore, starting the process of European settlement. The landing place is also now next to a large oil refinery. There is a monument walk here, and an interpretive visitors centre. The area is never crowded with visitors, and many Sydneysiders have never visited. There are usually plenty of available and well maintained electric barbecues and picnic tables by the water. Buses can be a couple of hours apart so check the times. [3]. Sutherland Shire used to be named the birthplace of modern Australia, referring to European settlement. Now the aspects of the Aboriginal and European settlement interaction are emphasised, and interpreted in the visitors centre in the park.There is a National Park Admission fee ($11/24hr) to drive into the Park. If you only want to visit the monuments and see the landing place you can easily park just by the beach outside the park and not incur any fee to walk along the monument track from the other end. Foot or bicycle access is always free.. edit

Sydney Tramway Museum, Rawson Pde, Loftus (Adjacent to Loftus Railway Station, no entry from Metroad 1 heading south), [4]. Sundays 10am until 5pm. They have an old Bondi tram, overseas trams, and tramrides, including rides to the Royal National Park. They also have a large display areaAdult $15 Child $8. edit

Botany Bay National Park, Captain. After visiting the landing place, there are several walks and drives within the park. One of the better ones is the walk to Cape Solander. The cliff aspect is nice, and views right out to see and across Cronulla. You also lose the industrial view on this walk as well, which is so noticable on the monument walk.edit

Towra Point Wetland, Captain Cook Drive. The Towra point wetland is an imporant resource for migratory birds, with mangroves and inter-tidal mud-flats. It is a protected area, and mostly not open to visitors. The National Park Visitors Centre at Kurnell does organise tours every month or so. There are three points available to view over the wetland, each off Captain Cook Drive, and worth stopping at if you are on the way to Kurnell. Between November and March you may spot the migratory Eastern Curlew, which spends the other half of the year in Russia. Take your binoculars.edit

Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, The Kingsway, Gymea (Exist from the station, and proceed straight ahead), [5]. 10am-5pm. Very much a community art gallery, surrounded by pretty gardens. Nice coffee shop in amoungst it all.free. edit

Dive, Shiprock Point Marine Reserve, [6]. Shiprock point in Dolans Bay has a marine reserve. Some tropical fish can even be seen here in the summer months, when the water is warm in February mainly. You can see many fish varieties snorkelling along the rocks all the way around from Lilli Pilli point to Shiprock. Watch out for fishermen outside the reserve, and watch out for speedboats in the channel. Shiprock dive can hire equipment or do training courses.edit

Swim in the Port Hacking, Lilli Pilli Point, Gymea Bay, Grays Point. The Port Hacking River lies along the Southern Boundary of the Sutherland Shire, and separates it from the National Park. The Port Hacking is a clean waterway, nice for swimming (except for possibly the day after heavy rain). There are enclosures (nets) for swimming along the waterway, usually uncrowded. You can swim outside the enclosures if want to. The biggest threat is jetskis, sharks are very rarely seen. From Lilli Pilli Point, there is a large sand spit you can swim out to at low tide. There are some little sting rays out there that can sting you if you tread on them. It hurts, but it not otherwise dangerous.edit

Boat on the Georges RIver. The Georges River is navigable all the way from Botany Bay to Liverpool, and there are lots places to launch your boat in the area. There are beaches, parks, inlets and river more than enough for a day or two on the river. The Woronora River flows into the Georges at Bonnet Bay.edit

Como Marina, (park at Como Pleasure Grounds, and walk down to the marina, or ten minutes walk down Cremona Road from Como Station), [7]. You hire a motor boat by the hour, a explore the Georges River and Woronora River waterways or take a picnic and make a day of it. You can hire pontoon with BBQ for up to 10 people.from $30/hour. edit

Kayak on the Woronora, Woronora (By the old Wororora Bridge, if driving follow the signs to Woronora, or it is about 15 minutes walk steep downhill from Sutherland Station. You can catch the bus back up, but they run infrequently on weekends. Check the timetable [http://www.connexnsw.com.au]). The Woronora is a easy river for kayaking or canoeing for an hour or whole day. Boat traffic is slow, and the river is usually protected and calm. In an hour you can kayak from the boatshed up to the Woronora Bridge or vice-versa. For a longer trip (if you are fit) you can go all the way up to the Needles, which is really the limit of navigation of the river, and a nice swimming spot. You can hire a kayaks everyday from Woronora Boatshed. Prices are $15 for the first hour, and $10 for each hour after that. There usually is no requirement to book. , and explore the many inlets around Bonnet Bay, or if you are fit, even go upstream to the needles. Take sunscreen, covering clothing, and a hat.edit

As with much of Sydney every shopping strip has at least one decent Australian-Thai restaurant, which may not please the gourmet with service nice food at around $15 a main for dinner, with a lunch special usually aronnd $7-$10. There is no shortage of Indian and Chinese options too.

For morning coffee try the strip in Gymea, on Gymea Bay Road near the Kingsway for a selection of several nice cafes, or for a more relaxed pace there is a coffee shop at the Marina near the Como Pleasure Grounds in Cremona St.

Miranda Fair Food Halls, Kingsway, Miranda (adjacent to Miranda Station). open until 7pm, and 9pm Thursdays. Cheap food, including the major chains. Lots of choice, a place to eat, but no ambiance.edit

Mr India, Old (50m east of Sutherland Station). Open for lunch and dinner. Eat in or take away, Mr India will give you a very tasty Indian meal for well under $10. The Naan is cooked fresh to order, and is best used to soak up the Lamb Korma.edit

Pauls Hamburgers, Princes Hwy, Sylvania (Just south of the Tom Uglys Bridge). Wednesday-Sunday. A local institution, was serving hamburgers through a hole in the wall 40 years ago. Any resemblance to the chain hamburgers is entirely coincidental, this is a different animal. Order one with the lot, and a Pina Colada milkshake, and walk down to the river and eat it under the bridge.edit

Gymea Bay Road (North), Gymea Bay Road (Just north of Gymea train station, turn right out of the station). Lots of great cafe food in Gymea. Modern Australian Cuisineedit

Moshka, Box Rd, Jannali (Just east of the train station at Jannali). Moderately priced Indian restaurant with flair, and really tasty food. If you don't feel like Indian, the Thai Tiger, is next door down, and Little Italy is on the corner. You will need to book on Friday/Saturday nights, but other times just walk in.edit

The Big Mexican Rancho, the corner of Casaurina Rd and Gymea Bay Rd. Tu-Sa dinner. This restaurant has open at the same place for well over 20 years. Food not really authentic or unique, but decent serves of tasty food, consistently popular locally.mains $20. edit

Historic Como Hotel (Como Hilton), Cremona Rd, Como (from Como station walk down the hill to Cremona Road, and turn left. Short walk to the hotel.), [9]. The original Como Hotel burnt down in 1996. See the original burnt door still in the Hotel. The new hotel looks even more historic than the old one did, and has a great balcony overlooking the bay and the cricket oval. There is a barbecue on the balcony most weekend lunchtimes.edit

All Sutherland Shire Libraries [17] provide full Internet access for $3.30 per hour to travellers. There are libraries at Cronulla, Caringbah, Miranda, Sutherland and elsewhere, that are open Monday to Friday and Saturday Mornings. Only Sutherland is open Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Bookings are taken, and you may need to book at peak times.

Gloria Jeans Coffee by the station in Sutherland provides free Wi-Fi for customers, as does the cafe two doors down in the Eton Arcade, and various other cafes around. Usually you will need to get the password from the counter.

There is free Wi-Fi in both the food courts in Miranda Fair shopping mall, courtesy of the McDonald's restaurants there, as well as at the McDonalds in Kirrawee and Sylvania.

The libraries have Wi-Fi for $2 for 2 hours - buy a card from the counter.

This is a usable article. It has information for getting in as well as some complete entries for restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please plunge forward and help it grow!